5 Worst Mistakes That You Can Make When Selling Your House

1. High Price – There are several problems with pricing your house too high. The biggest problem is that the real buyers that are actually looking for a home in your price range won’t see it. The first couple of weeks that your house is on the market, all of the buyers that are actively looking will see your house on the Internet, and/or with their buyer’s agent. If nobody sees your house in the first couple of weeks, you will know that your house is priced too high.

2. Bad Photos – This is a really big mistake that is made by a lot of sellers and often is the fault of their real estate agent. It is absolutely essential that your real estate agent hire someone to take amazing photos of your house. There are a handful of agents that are capable of taking their own photos, but these agents are few and far between. Stand your ground and make your agent hire a professional, or request to see a resume of their work.

3. Low Commissions – This is a tempting thing to do to save money, but it is really a bad idea. The bottom line is that real estate agents livelihoods are tied directly to the selling office commissions. If your real estate agent suggests that you offer a commission that is lower than what is typically offered you will end up doing yourself a huge disservice. If you offer a low selling office commission, consider the sale of your house to be a low priority among the real estate community.

4. House not Ready – When you are facing a buyers market as a seller, you need to face the market like a competition. Not only does your house need to have the best price, but it needs to be the best house on the market in the price range. This does not mean that you need to spend a lot of money on the house, but it does mean that you need to break out the elbow grease and get your house looking its best. This would involve painting things that look old, removing spider webs from the ceiling, and cleaning all of the windows. Not everybody wants to buy a new house, but nobody wants to buy a dirty one.

5. Bad Real Estate Agent – An agent that fails to communicate is the tell tale sign of a bad real estate agent. Your agent also needs to be attentive to the first four mistakes that are listed above. There are a lot of homes on the market that are dirty, overpriced, with low commissions, and bad photos. Don’t let your house fall into this category. Make sure that you thoroughly screen your agent to make sure they are well qualified. The fact that your real estate agent sold you the house a few years ago, or that their kids play with your kids, does not automatically qualify them to sell your house in this market.